Friday November 9, 2007
Russian Healthcare Ministry Encourages Informed Consent and Abortion Alternatives
Doctors not required to follow procedure but it is strongly recommended
By John Connolly
MOSCOW, Russia, November 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the most recent in a long line of attempts to shore up the nation's critical demographic crisis, the Russian Federation's Healthcare Ministry has approved a measure to procure a signature from women seeking an abortion.
The document discloses the possibility of suffering grave complications from an abortion and provides a full list of potential medical hazards. The doctor performing the abortion would also sign the document, confirming he fully disclosed the medical risks and informed the woman of alternatives to abortion.
Doctors are not being required to offer the document to women for signing, but the Health Ministry strongly recommends that they do.
The Health Ministry's proposal means the government is reluctantly realizing the link between the nation's plummeting population and its staggering abortion rate.
Russia's birth rate is outpaced by its abortion rate, leading to a population crisis in the country. Russia has an average annual population decline of 700,000 people. 60% of all pregnancies are estimated to end in abortion in Russia, and has led to greater discouragement of abortions by distressed demographic experts.
President Vladimir Putin has called the demographic crisis a "critical" matter for Russia. Concern among government and healthcare officials has resulted in a number of schemes to convince couples to have children ranging from sterility taxes to a national "conception-day."
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Russian Youth Group Encourages "More Sex" to Save Motherland from Dwindling Population
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07073010.html
Low Birth Rate is Russia's Biggest Problem Says President Putin
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/may/06051003.html
Russian Abortion Killing and Sterilizing Millions; Demographic Collapse Likely to be Worse than Previously Predicted
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05041209.html
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